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UK Computer Hacker Facing Extradition Charges To USA

A British man wanted in the United States for allegedly carrying out "the biggest military computer hack of all time" is due to appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court today (8 June ...

on 2005-06-09 01:14:12

A British man wanted in the United States for allegedly carrying out "the biggest military computer hack of all time" is due to appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court today (8 June 2005).

Arrested in November 2002 by officers from the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, part of the National Crime Squad, Gary McKinnon, 39, of north London faces extradition over claims he gained illegal access and made alterations to US military and NASA computers over a 12-month period from 2001 to 2002.

Using software available for download on the Internet, McKinnon -- an unemployed computer systems administrator -- allegedly hacked into 92 separate networks operated by the US Army, Navy, Air Force and the Pentagon.

The US government estimated the cost of tracking and correcting the alleged problems to be about $1 million (Â£570,000).

McKinnon was indicted in 2002 by a US grand jury on eight counts of computer-related crimes in 14 different states and was arrested yesterday (8 June) by the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit.

The US indictment said he hacked into an Army computer at Fort Myer, Virginia, obtained administrator privileges and transmitted codes, information and commands before deleting about about 1,300 user accounts.

It alleged he also "deleted critical system files" on the computer, copied a file containing usernames and encrypted passwords for the computer and installed tools to gain unauthorised access to other machines.

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